-- Aster --

I found myself back near the center of the city. It was surprisingly easy to reach this place. I think most of the people are closer to the edge of the city looking for me. I still needed to find guards to tag and where better to find them, than a guardhouse. With my challenge, there should be a large amount of them there and I only need to wait for three of them to exit.

I watched the building from inside an empty dumpster in an alley on the other side of the street. It wasn't glamorous, but it was effective. No one came anywhere near me and it gave me an amazing view of the people coming and going. A surprising amount of them was doing their normal work. Maybe the challenge isn't as big as I thought.

Guard after the guard left and entered the build throughout the day. I was spending way too much time just waiting for a chance. I was also procrastinating and I knew it. It was one thing to watch but I felt intimidated by actually sitting outside the guardhouse.

Come on Aster just do it.

I was trying to psych myself up to just get out there and tag someone. I was running down on time, and I didn't know how long it would take to return. Though I did still have at least sixteen hours left. I was still feeling the pressure. It was during my attempt to convince myself to move that I finally saw the perfect opportunity. Three guards, we're heading out of the building and we're all heading right past me.

I pulled three needles I prepared for this occasion. Well, more I found them in the dumpster and thought it was perfect.

They walked right by my dumpster, as they passed I jumped out and quickly stabbed all three of them before they even knew I was there. I didn't even wait to see their faces. I just ran for all I was worth once they were tagged. That's when a blue screen appeared in front of me.

Congratulations!

All Six Required Guards have been tagged.

Leave City Objective...incomplete

Return to Guild...incomplete

Tag Six Guards...Complete

The blue screen closed.

Boom. I felt the heat of a large fireball explode behind me.

I guess one of them was a mage.

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Another blue screen popped up in front of me.

Tag has been removed.

Five of six guard now tagged

Leave City Objective...incomplete

Return to Guild...incomplete

Tag Six Guards...incomplete

I read the screen twice just to understand what I was reading.

How did they remove the tag?

Then I remembered that mages might siphon off the tag without even realizing it.

"Graahhh"

It wasn't long before I learned that I done fucked up. While I was running I began to learn just how many guards this city had. Turns out not even an eighth of them had joined in on the hunt, but I had apparently kicked the hornet's nest by attacking them at the guard's house. They were out for blood, and waiting for at every single intersection, with something.

At first, they tried using the net again, which I easily cut through. Then they started to use the net and what I could only describe as clouds of some sort of spell. I somehow was able to avoid it all. On a few of the intersections, it was just a barrage of spells. I could only run and avoid the best I could. I swear they would have cast a meteor-type spell if I wasn't in the city.

I would like to say I came out of every encounter unscathed but each intersection took something out of me as I was struck more and more. It was when the set up a literal firewall I thought I was done for. I pushed as much power and belief I could when I spoke, "I am a LIE." I became almost intangible as I flew through the fire, but I didn't believe enough and found myself nearly burned alive as I hit the ground on the other side smoke coming off me. I kept running not having anything else I could do. With them all pursuing me like this there was no way I could get close to any of them to tag.

It was at the next intersection that I saw a group of warriors waiting for me with their weapons unsheathed. Seeing this I realized this was most likely my best shot at getting my last tag. Seeing how big these guys were I knew it was not a good idea to get close.

This is going to hurt.

I gathered power again and will my skill "FASTER". I picked one of the guards with a giant club and launched myself at him. I was flying through the air with no way to stop or change targets when I realized I had made a huge mistake. The man could keep up with me. He was already swinging his club right where my head would end up. I did the only thing I could do and attempted to maneuver my feet to land on the club instead of the head. My feet landed near the warrior's hand on the club mid-swing. I was trying to take advantage of my dumb mistake. As my body collapsed into a ball on the club, my hand stabbed down into his hand tagging him. From there I could feel my ankles break and many of my other bones and organs break and rupture.

I knew I had succeeded when a blue screen appeared in front of me.

Congratulations!

All Six Required Guards have been tagged.

Leave City Objective...incomplete

Return to Guild...incomplete

Tag Six Guards...Complete

I found myself flying across the city essentially a broken person but I was smiling. The guard had hit me hard enough to make me fly faster than any of them could follow.

"Thanks!" I yelled as I flew across the city.

I used that speed to keep up my momentum by falling away and jumping between possibilities, flitting through an impossible-to-follow path. Even I was surprised I could jump in the state I was in but with my power pushed to the limits I was able to go for miles before the constant decent caught up with me and I hit a pile of trash in an alley. Where I promptly collapsed unable to move an inch.

The damage I sustained was a lot worse than I realized. I knew I had a lot of internal bleeding, but I didn't realize he had shattered my ankles with that strike.

I think I had a punctured lung or two as I cough blood.

I was screwed, with the amount of damage I took and the power I used drained me near complete. I needed to heal and I didn't have the energy to or the mass. I might be able to keep myself from dying.

That's when my hand-rolled over something in my pocket, the jar Violet gave me.